Yihai Group Chairman Linda Wong Honored at City Day Celebration in Uzice, Serbia

PRESS RELEASE PR Newswire

Oct. 13, 2017, 08:40 AM

BEIJING, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of the annual City Day celebration in Užice, Serbia, Yihai Group Chairman of the Board Linda Wong was awarded the "Užice City's Senior Economic Adviser" honor by the government in recognition of her contributions to Serbia and the city of Užice. The City Day celebration commemorates the first written mention of the city more than 688 years ago as well as the city's triumph over Fascism during the First World War. Užice is the second largest city in the heart of the Balkans.

Ms. Wong traveled to Serbia with a delegation of 23 outstanding Chinese entrepreneurs interested in investment opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe. As part of President Xi Jinping's "One Belt, One Road" initiative Serbia is known as the "crossroads between the East and West" and the economic and communication center of the Eurasian corridor. Since 2013, Yihai Group has promoted communications between China and Serbia driving the "16 + 1" cooperation that is part of "One Belt, One Road."

In June 2015, Yihai Group brought 39 Chinese representatives to the "First Economic and Trade Forum" in Belgrade to promote the economic and trade agreements between the two countries. It was during that visit that Yihai Group learned that the construction of a local kindergarten in Užice was delayed due to lack of funding. Yihai Education Group and Beijing Yihai Foundation donated $402,000 through the Chinese Charity Foundation to build the kindergarten, which was opened as part of the 2017 City Day celebration by Užice Mayor Tihomir Petković and called the Yihai Mama Wong Kindergarten in recognition of Ms. Wong's philanthropy and commitment to educational excellence. Ms. Wong was also instrumental in making Harbin, China and Užice sister cities further strengthening the friendship between China and Serbia.

This is the third City Day celebration that Ms. Wong has attended. In October 2015, she was the only Chinese person invited to participate. During the 2016 ceremonies she was awarded the Užice's highest accolades the "City Lifetime Contribution Award" the first time a non-Serbian received this honor.

Ms. Wong said: "The political relationship between the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and China have steadily developed, which deepens the mutual trust on both sides. With the visit of President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang to Serbia, the economic and trade exchanges between the countries has increased. It is my hope that by bringing a delegation of Chinese entrepreneurs to Serbia we will find new ways to work together that will be mutually beneficial."

Under Linda Wong's leadership over the past 20 years, Yihai Property has developed major real estate projects in China. Ms. Wong is also a philanthropist, who has been recognized globally for her work with children and educators, the elderly and the arts. Education is personally so important to her that she created a development model in her Chinese housing complexes that includes schools for the youngest members of the family and an elder college. Similarly, her investment in the important medicine and health care project reflects her views on the importance of an ecosystem that makes a social contribution in her developments.